1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to light shielding magazines for film cartridges, and more particularly to a light shielding magazine for a film cartridge having a light shield movable between a closed position and an open position. The light shield, in the closed position, prevents entry of ambient light through a film feed opening and, in the open position, allows passage of a film through the film feed opening.
2. Description of the Related Art
A well-known holder of photographic film has a film rolled on a spool and enclosed in a cover. The cover defines a film feed opening light-shielded with patches of velvet or the like, through which the film may be drawn out.
This type of film holder is loaded into a camera, with the leader of the film drawn out through the film feed opening, for use in photo-taking with the camera.
As distinct from the film holder having the above construction, a novel film cartridge has been conceived. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, this film cartridge 50 may be loaded into a camera, with a film 52 including its leader completely contained in the cartridge 50. Thus, an operation to load the film cartridge 50 into the camera may be effected free of error.
With this novel film cartridge 50, film 52 may be fed out through the film feed opening 51 simply by rotating a spool 54 of the film cartridge 50.
Moreover, this film cartridge 50 includes, instead of velvet or the like, a light shield 53 for preventing entry of ambient light into the film cartridge 50. The light shield 53 is mounted in the film cartridge 50 to be pivotable about a pivotal axis 50a in directions indicated by arrows H to open and close a path of the film 52.
Where velvet or the like is used surfaces of the film 52 could have scratches or other flaws due to dust or the like adhering to the film surfaces and patches of velvet or the like after passing through the film feed opening 51 a plurality of times. Such inconvenience may be avoided with the novel construction. The film 52, after being developed, may be returned as contained in the film cartridge 50 to the customer.
When the above film cartridge 50 is loaded into a film developing device to have the film developed, the leader of the film 52 must be drawn out of the film cartridge 50 in advance. To drawn the film 52 out of the film cartridge 50, the light shield 53 must be opened. Then, ambient light could enter the film cartridge 50 through a gap provided by the light shield 53 in the open position.
To avoid entry of ambient light, it has been conventional practice to draw the leader of the film 52 out of the film cartridge 50 in a darkroom. Drawing the leader of the film 52 out of the film cartridge 50 in a darkroom is a troublesome operation.